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Who Dey Revolution Manifesto

Preamble

IN THIS TIME of perpetual Cincinnati Bengals incompetence and futility, with zero playoff wins in the nineteen seasons since the WhoDeyRevolution Godfather, Paul Brown, passed away in 1991 and handed the team to his fortunate son, the Despot, Mike Brown;

Introduction

WE, the members of the Who Dey Revolution, in our fervent dedication to the Cincinnati Bengals and fanatical desire to transform our hometown team into perpetual Super Bowl contenders, call for a popular revolution of fans to demand comprehensive reform to the managerial decisions and approach of Cincinnati Bengals ownership, management, staff and players, and hereby call for the adoption of the following Who Dey Revolution Manifesto:

Manifesto Demands

THAT the Mike Brown, Katie Blackburn, Marvin Lewis, along with every other member of the Bengals management, staff and personnel, state publicly to all Bengals fans, “I will do everything in my power to help the Cincinnati Bengals win a Super Bowl;”

THAT Mike Brown will hire a general manager, drastically expand the scouting department and relinquish all control of player personnel;

THAT all training, rehabilitation and medical facilities are considered best-in-class compared to other NFL teams;

THAT the management fill the team only with players who fit the system, both mentally and physically, and are not reluctant to makes changes to player personnel when needed, regardless of cost or loyalty concerns;

THAT offensive and defensive line depth is considered the top priority for all player personnel decisions;

THAT all decisions made by ownership, management, staff and players, both on and off the field, are judged only by this criterion: “Does this help the Cincinnati Bengals win a Super Bowl?”

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Scouting

March 23, 2012

Per a tweet from Bengals.com editor Geoff Hobson, the Bengals have announced the hiring of two-full time scouts today: Robert Livingston (former asst. coach at Vanderbilt) and Steven Radicevic (former Director of Football Operations at UCLA).

Much more to come as we figure out exactly who these guys are...but quite frankly I never thought I would see the day when hiring, scouts and Bengals would collide in the same sentence.

The company that controls the game film for 8 of the 11 major college football conferences, XOS, has always given the NFL access to game film for free. In return, the NFL has ran the Junior Advisory Committee, which advises underclassmen their draft status should they declare. Now they, or more accurately, the conferences, want the NFL to pay up for access to this film. To the tune of $20 or $30 million. Quite obviously, the NFL has balked at that asking price.

Now, if you're thinking that this isn't a problem just yet, you'd be wrong. According to the article, tape typically starts arriving at NFL offices around the league around Week 2 of the regular season. However, with this dispute, tape has yet to arrive, nor will it until things have been worked out. Also, colleges are denying NFL scouts on-site access to film, a courtesy extended in the past.

Well then. That sounds like a problem, even for a team with a large scouting staff. With no game tape, a scout would have to rely on television replays (almost impossible to judge everyone on the field) and traditional scouting (unreliable as you only get one look in real-time).

For a team like the Bengals, with next to nothing in terms of a scouting staff, any sort of delay in the process could be deadly. They're already light years behind in preparation for the 2010 Draft.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not blaming the Bengals for the situation. The conferences aren't asking for the money from the teams individually, they're asking for it from the league as a whole. I don't blame the NFL for rejecting their offer outright.

However, this situation simply underscores the value of a large, competent scouting department. If one of your scouts is sick or has to take some leave, you can cover it. If you don't have access to game film, your scouts can overlap a bit and form a general consensus. Hard to get a reliable, general consensus with one or two guys out there scouting. And think how many guys could slip through the cracks. Let's just hope this gets fixed.

Finally, check out this killer quote:

"And if you don't have [the video], it becomes very problematic for
some teams to scout. If you have a general manager who doesn't travel
to scout, he can't see the players because he doesn't have the
[video].''

Gulp. The silver lining? Anyone with ESPN Insider or access to Google doesn't pick Jerome Simpson. Could it be that less is more?

October 20, 2009

I don't think consistency is the word you're looking for there. The ability to not suck? That works better.

but they aren’t ready to exile Dan Coats or J.P Foschi or activate third-rounder Chase Coffmaneven though he’s been good enough in practice that head coach Marvin Lewis is calling him all-Hamilton County.

I think Marvin's making fun of our fair county, because if Coffman can't get time with these two buffoons ahead of him, then all-Hamilton County must not mean much. Or it means Coffman could absolutely walk on at Elder and start right away.

August 06, 2009

The Football Outsiders Almanac is perhaps the most in-depth NFL publication available right now, with their advanced stats and groundbreaking findings -- such as field goal accuracy not being a consistent stat -- creating a book high in quality and quantity (517 pages). I highly recommend buying it. The writer who composed the Bengal's section, Rob Weintraub, was kind enough to answer some questions about the upcoming season, and Football Outsider's projections for it:

The Bengals have a 2009 mean win projection of 6.9 games (the system used has many, many variables and stats factored in). Why is theprojection system not as optimistic as some of our fans?

August 03, 2009

Frightening news from Memphis. Grizzlies' owner Michael Heisley has let a few college scouts go. And by a few, I mean every single one of them. According to Geoff Calkins, the team decided to let go of all five of their scouts in order to cut costs. General manager (and frequent target of Simmons' scorn) Chris Wallace said of the move, "I prefer a smaller group." That sounds like it could come from the mouth of a certain general manager/head scout/owner/Redeemer here in Cincinnati, doesn't it?

To be totally fair to the Grizz, Calkins does somewhat concede Wallace's point that scouting in the NBA is totally different than scouting in the NFL. A team only makes a few picks a year, and the top few players are totally obvious to anyone who follows basketball. At least the Grizzlies have somewhat of an excuse, unlike another wildly unsuccessful sports franchise named after an aggressive animal.

However, as Calkins rightly points out, you can't claim you're "building through the draft" with a straight face if you have a bare bones scouting department. God, this all sounds so familiar, doesn't it?

In a completely related story, the Grizzlies were founded in 1995 and have yet to win a playoff game.

July 31, 2009

Training camp starts today. Optimism is all over the place, and I understand why. A healthy Carson Palmer, a talented draft class, Chad in a better mood, etc. To some extent it makes sense. But, here at WDR, we have 19 years of Mike Brown's history staring us right in the face, and we look behind the surface level optimism to address how different this Bengals team is than last year's 4-11-1 debacle.

First, Carson Palmer is healthy. Celebrate Good Times!!! Wait a second. How many games did healthy Carson win last year? Never mind. In the words of Drew Rosenhaus - Next Question.

Second, a great draft class? Maybe. But remember, the same bare bones scouting department was responsible for not only evaluating hundreds of college players, but also providing input on the dozens of free agents across the NFL. Also, Andre Smith does not help unless he is in camp. I know most/many of the other first round picks have not signed. So there still is time, and the Bengals have not messed this up yet. But really, deep down, how much confidence do you have that Andre Smith will be in camp, in shape within the week? If he is, kudos to Mikey and the crew. If not, just another piece of evidence why Mike Brown is the most incompetent owner in the history of pro sports.